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Crews Implode Historic St. Paul Smokestack

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A piece of St. Paul history came down Sunday morning in dramatic fashion.

Demolition crews brought down a towering smokestack as part of the ongoing demolition of the Island Station Power plant.

After standing over the Mississippi riverfront for more than 90 years, the 280-foot smokestack crumbled in a matter of seconds.

The former coal power plant has sat empty for the last 41 years after failed plans for redevelopment. Last fall, a company out of Arizona bought the property.

For the last several days, crews have been prepping the building for the demolition and wiring it with explosives.

Preservationists have worked to save the property and designate it a historic landmark, but those efforts failed.

The company overseeing the demolition, Frattalone Companies, is the same company that brought down the Metrodome a few weeks back.

So far, no details have been released on what the company plans to do with the property.

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